


Dead Hearts

by GeniusTacos



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Blood and Injury, But I'm not sorry, Character Death, Crying, Death, Gen, How I feel it should go, Hurt, Hurt Carl Grimes, I'm so sorry, Insanity, Major Character Injury, Rick is insane, Sacrifice, Sad Carl Grimes, Tags Are Hard, Teen Judith Grimes, The Hilltop (Walking Dead), Walkers (Walking Dead), graveyards, major death, mental health
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-02
Updated: 2017-06-02
Packaged: 2018-11-08 04:58:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11074527
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GeniusTacos/pseuds/GeniusTacos
Summary: Graveyards were never Carl's favorite but he had to suck it up to bring his little sister to visit her favorite people on the face of the earth. Judith didn't enjoy going either but they had made a promise many years ago to visit every year in May.





	Dead Hearts

**Author's Note:**

> Song to listen to why reading this story is: Dead Hearts by Stars  
> I am so sorry but I am not sorry at the same time. This killed me to write and the ending got me big time. I think I cried at least ten times while writing this and I hope that you can share your reactions with me. This might not be the best thing I have written but for me it was a roller coaster of emotions, I hope that you get the same feeling I do.
> 
> Thank you and enjoy 'Dead Hearts'

White flowers were placed on a shallow grave. The bright petals leaned softly again a rotting makeshift cross. It wasn’t much but it was all they could do. Over the years, the graveyard became too full so the survivors were forced to dig up the graves and bury two corpses in one spot. A young teenaged girl stood silently beside an older male as the pair watched the flowers dance in the subtle breeze.  
   
No words were spoken between them, only the small gesture of grasping hands were passed between the two. “It still hurts… to visit them… a-after all they’ve done for us..” Her voice was weak but the words she spoke were strong. The girl looked up at her companion and leaned her head on his shoulder.  
   
“The pain will always be there, you just can’t let it consume you.” “I know, it’s just t-” “Judith. We both know that if we could take back what has happened that we would. Nothing can change the past, all we can do it accept it and wait for the future to hold better times.”  
   
Judith looked down briefly and nodded glumly. “Yes, Carl.”  
   
Neither wanted to begin the yearly ceremony they had promised to follow through with. Their wants were not their top priorities at the moment. While they were in the graveyard, the dead were to be loved and remembered.  
   
“Richard Grimes. Beloved father, strong leader and unforgettable lover.”  
   
_Carl looked down the barrel of the .45. The air was still as Carl steadily held his gun towards his father and his best friend Daryl Dixon. Rick was currently bending over a badly beaten Daryl while his hands were still clenched in the archer’s shirt collar. A manic smirk was spread over Rick’s face as he continued to slam Daryl into the ground. No one dared to stop Rick now, a group of twelve watched on but no one moved a muscle. After Michonne had passed and Maggie died during childbirth, Rick broke completely. ___  
  
_His family had seen him broken before but not to the level of harming fellow members of the group. The reason he had attacked Daryl was unknown but all the group remembered happening was Daryl started yelling at Rick about how he can’t keep killing for sport. Rick had stood there for awhile, having an internal battle with his long dead wife and girlfriend about what to do. Michonne had told him to leave Daryl be and walk away while on the other hand, Lori was whispering in his ear all the things that he could do to make the archer suffer. When Michonne had died, Rick was a stone cold killer. Nothing stood in his way as he quickly took out most of the Saviors single handedly. After Negan was killed off, Rick took the opportunity to take over all four communities, The sanctuary, The Hilltop, The Kingdom and Alexandria. While Rick was rising to power, Rick snapped even farther and was too far gone for anyone to help him. He killed for sport. Took innocent saviors and put them into cages full of walkers. All the communities watched but only few liked it. As years went on, Rick dug a hole deeper and deeper into his mind. Before long, he was the monster and villain he had tried so hard to protect his family from. ___  
  
_“Good boy Carl! Now you're catching on! I thought I would have to punish you to make you see that this is the way things are now! Go on, SHOOT HIM!” Laughter and hiccuping soon followed Rick’s words. The maniac slammed Daryl’s head back down onto the hard floor and laughed harder. “Go on son! What are you waiting for?! An invitation?! Shoot the damn archer!” ___  
  
_“No Dad!” Carl’s voice shook as he fought against the urge to obey his father. “We are done with your shit! All you do is kill, what happened to ‘we can come back from this’?! How would Hershel feel about this?! Beth would be beyond disappoint, Mom wouldn’t look at you and Michonne.. Michonne would have left you long before you snapped..” Father and son held a staring contest. Rick’s hand loosened on Dary’s collar and he slowly stood up. ___  
  
_“You will do what you are told young man! Shoot the damn traitor!” “Fine. I will.” The sound of a gunshot rang through the forest. Carl bit his lip and looked away from the mangled face of a man he once knew. All too quickly reality came back hard and the nineteen year old dropped hard onto his knees before sobbing hard as his father’s body crumpled onto the ground below. ___  
  
“Maggie “Greene” Rhee, mother of a beautiful child, will be in our hearts forever.”  
   
_Blood. Too much blood. “Maggie! Maggie you’re going to have to stay with me!” Rosita slammed her foot onto the gas pedal and sped her way towards the gates of The Hilltop. “We’re almost there! Damnit don’t close your eyes!” Maggie slumped in the passenger's seat holding her stomach. She wasn’t due for another four weeks. Why was the baby so early? They weren’t ready yet. Supplies were running short, that’s why Rosita and Maggie had decided to go out on a run. ___  
  
_Dog food. Cat food. Fish food? Why the hell is the canned food. Maggie sifted through the canned goods section of the convenient store while Rosita looked through the small selection of medication. “It’s already been raided and ransacked.” Rosita explained as she came back empty handed. “There is no use looking anymore, I bet we’ve already hit this place multiple times.” The soon to be mother nodded in agreement and stood up quickly. “I suggest we try the Pharmacys once more. Give it another good look before we head back.” Dark rims were visible under the pregnant woman’s eyes and her feature were shockingly pale. After much convincing and bribing, Rosita agreed and with Maggie in tow, headed towards Martin’s Pharmacy. ___  
  
_“What medication do we need exactly?” No reply. “Maggie? You have the list right? Can you check the damn thing to see what exactly we are looking for?” Still more silence. Rosita turned to see Maggie leaning against an old fallen gas station sign. Blood was pooling around the folds of her legs and dripping down the legs of her pants. Too much for anyone’s liking. ___  
  
_The gates to The Hilltop opened slowly and Jesus was waiting patiently for them near the entrance. It didn’t take long for the scout to see that something was definitely wrong. Maggie hadn’t exited the car and was having trouble keeping her eyes open. It took both Jesus and Rosita’s strength to lift a barely conscious Maggie out of the car and carry her towards the doctor’s office. By the time they laid her on the examination table and removed her pants for delivery, her face was white and her eyes were glossy. Her uterus had torn during her last run causing her to bleed to death and her baby to suffocate. ___  
  
“Carol Peletier, mother to everyone who knew her.”  
   
_45\. 44. 43. 42. 41. 40. Her last minute on earth had never felt so long. Reflecting on the past was easy as she was bleeding heavily in front of one of Eugene’s homemade bombs. She was supposed to set the bomb and leave without anyone in the Sanctuary noticing her there but guess what? She was noticed. Simon. That sonofabitch walking in all smug and chippy until he saw what she was up to. The two fought hard, Simon taking the upper hand but Carol moving quickly. Carol had managed to knock him out but not before he was able to slice open her inner thigh. ___  
  
_23\. 22. 21. 20. 19. 18. 17. No one will know she was here. They will all be dead before they can figure out what’s going on. 8. 7. 6. 5. 4. 3. 2. 1. ___  
  
“Daryl Dixon, the only good person to walk amongst us.”  
   
_The whip snapped against his bare chest and back for what felt like the thousandth time. Eleven men surrounded his fallen form, each held a knife close to a different part of his back. Daryl bit his inner cheek and waited for the more excruciating pain to begin. ___  
  
_A door to the right of the candlelit cell opened and revealed a very slim man with hallowed features. The nametag that was barely hanging onto his soiled shirt read the name ‘Dexter’. Dexter strode into the room and knelt down so he was at eye level with Daryl. “FF.. Fuck… You look like shit D. What wonders years of abuse does to a human's soul and features.” Calloused hands caressed Daryl’s swollen left cheek. “If only we could put you out of this godforsaken misery.” Two men grabbed Daryl roughly by the backs of his shoulders and forced him to stand up. Even when he was standing completely straight, Dexter still towered over Daryl. “Put him on the table.” ___  
  
_Restraints were wrapped around his wrists, ankles, upper and lower legs and arms, around his neck and around his torso. Dexter made his way over to the operation table in the far corner of the cell with a large curved knife in hand. “Let’s begin shall we.” ___  
  
_Muscles were yanked from his back and skin was ripped with the blades of seven large knives. Daryl screamed in agony and wiggled in his tight restraints. It was no use, they weren’t going to let him escape, not after what he had done. “That was so kind of you to take Carl’s place Daryl. We would have flayed him and hung him outside our home just like we are going to do to you now. Hold still would you… makes the skin peel off faster.” White hot pain spread through his lower thighs as a woman sliced open the tender skin with a hunting knife. There was no escaping this, they will flay him and there was nothing anyone could do about it. ___  
  
_Four hours later, a skinned body was dragged by two dislocated shoulder to the front of an abandoned prison. The group called the erasers had gathered to watch as five men strung up the body with wire by it’s wrists and ankles. Flies started the gather as the body hung in a nearby tree, showing passers bys what happens when you cross the erasers. The only thing left on the bloodied muscle was a familiar biker vest with two angel wings sewn into the back. ___  
  
Carl read through every name and the two siblings remembered the last moments of their fellow family members.  
   
“Tara Chambler, loving friend and beautiful girlfriend.” Crushed to death by a collapsing building while on a supply run.  
   
“Rosita Espinosa, Strongest woman anyone will ever know.” Killed herself with Abraham’s gun on her back porch.  
   
“Paul “Jesus” Rovia, loving boyfriend and friend.” Shot in the inner thigh by Gregory.  
   
“Eugene Porter, may have been a coward but he was the smartest of all of us.” Killed by Lucille in one last demonstration by Negan.  
   
“Michonne Grimes, Loving wife.” Head crushed in by rock by Aratt during war with the Saviors.  
   
“Father Gabriel, We all hope he made it to heaven.” Eaten by walkers in the church during the last battle with the saviors.  
   
“Aaron, loving boyfriend and friend to all.” Shot in the head while holding Eric’s dead body.  
   
“It’s getting late. We need to head back before the sun sets.” Carl turned to walk away but Judith walked towards one of the graves that she visits all too often. “You go ahead, I’ll catch up.” She looked back at her older brother and he sighed before nodding.  
   
When Judith was alone in the makeshift graveyard, the young teenager sunk to her knees in front of a grave that stated ‘Michonne Grimes.’ “I never really knew you but from what Carl tells me, you were the best things that ever happened to Daddy. I-I wanted to tell you that I learned how to hold a gun correctly today.” She huffed out a laugh and placed a bouquet of purple flowers on the grave. “I know… i-it’s taken three years but I finally got it. I’m sorry if you don’t like the flowers, Carl told me that you used to love the color purple and cats. So I brought this.” A figure of a meowing plastic cat was placed next to her purple flowers. “It’s not much but I want you to be happy. I want you to know that I think of you everyday. Carl has shown me pictures of you and I wish I could have known you. I love you Mama, even if I never really met you. I love you with all my heart and will miss you for the rest of my days. Goodbye Mama.”  
   
**They were kids that I once knew, now they're all dead hearts to you. ******

**Author's Note:**

> I have no words, please comment if you have something to say, or have ideas as to how I can perfect this. I am sorry but not sorry to share this with you. Look I'm crying right now.
> 
> Please DM me on Instagram @Geniustacos, if you want to chat or just talk about TWD. :)(:


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